At present, such services are accessible from a terminal connected to mobile telecommunications networks such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) networks.
In those mobile networks, to select a communications network offering services, it is necessary to select a name identifying the communications network. To set up a connection between a terminal and a particular communications network, the identifying name is sent via a service support equipment of the mobile network to an equipment managing access to the communications networks. The identifying name, coming from the terminal, enables the service support equipment of the mobile network to determine the access management equipment associated with the identifying name that offers access to the communications network.
In existing GPRS and UMTS networks, the name identifying a communications network is called its access point name (APN). An APN primarily comprises an identifier that corresponds to the selected communications network, an identifier of the operator managing that communications network, and an identifier of the technology of the mobile network, for example GPRS technology. The format and use of an APN are covered by standards issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
To access a communications network offering a set of services, the user selects an APN on the terminal in order to set up a connection with the corresponding communications network.
Once an APN has been selected on the terminal, an access protocol is initialized. In a GPRS or a UMTS network, this protocol is the Packet Data Protocol (PDP). A procedure is executed to set up a connection from the terminal to the access management equipment known as a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN). To enable the connection to be set up, a link to the selected communications network is created across the mobile network. In a GPRS or a UMTS network, this link is called a PDP context link. It enables the terminal to access the services of the communications network.
The ETSI standard provides for a plurality of connections to be set up simultaneously from the same terminal to different communications networks. The document FR 02/07457 describes the use of a dedicated architecture manager in a terminal to manage simultaneous access to a plurality of communications networks.
In that document, on establishing a connection to a communications network, the dedicated architecture manager dialogues with the communications network. In the terminal, the dedicated architecture manager designates a dedicated architecture which is allocated to the connection to the connected communications network. On setting up each new connection to a new communications network, the dedicated architecture manager designates a different dedicated architecture which is allocated to the connection to the new communications network. The various dedicated architectures in the same terminal operate simultaneously. Each dedicated architecture is associated with a PDP context link and provides access to a different communications network.
The above document mentions that the dedicated architecture manager in a terminal assigns each dedicated architecture to a communications network. The autonomy and independent operation of the dedicated architectures of the terminal guarantee mutual confidentiality and security between the communications networks by providing a “seal” between the various services connected to the terminal.
To maintain the independence of the various communications networks effectively, and because of the autonomy of the various dedicated architectures of a terminal, each dedicated architecture has no view of the operation of the other dedicated architectures of the terminal.